ABSTRACT
There is scant empirical research that examines what happens in the therapy dyad when a patient dissociates in session. Available research accounts for only the generalized impact that engagement in trauma work has on the therapist and neglects the moment-to-moment and shifting inner experience of the therapist in session with a survivor of trauma. I engaged in a qualitative study to learn about the in-session experience of therapists that occurs when a patient with an early-life trauma history dissociates in session. I specifically explored the impact of a patient’s dissociation on the therapist, queried for states of resonance or attunement that evolved in the dyad, and explored what, if anything, was shared by way of a patient’s dissociation in session and by what mechanism. In the following, I briefly review the theoretical literature and empirical research that frames this inquiry.
